Funding helps green energy firm expand

Tockwith-based VerdEnergy is expanding to cope with growing business. (S)

A wood fuel company based at Tockwith has completed a major expansion plan to bring clean green energy to more customers.

VerdEnergy was set up in 2015 with the mission to become the North’s pre-eminent supplier of wood pellets for biomass boilers.

Since then it has trebled its turnover, supplying over 500 customers with 15,000 tonnes of pellets across the North of England.

It is now using £200,000 of funding from NPIF–Mercia Debt Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, to buy two more specialised delivery trucks and create a new supply depot at Forcett, near Scotch Corner, adding to the company’s network of bases at Tockwith and Howden in the East Riding.

Mark Duncan, managing director of VerdEnergy, said: “This expansion will make us even more resilient. Our growth has vindicated our belief that there was a gap in the market for a good-quality wood-pellet supplier also offering a one-stop solution for customers including servicing and maintenance.

“Woodfuel is the world’s oldest renewable resource and allied to modern processing techniques and boiler technology it is experiencing a new dawn.”

Using woodfuel has been described as a virtuous circle. Harvesting timber means woods can be more actively managed, which is good for wildlife, employment and the environment.

Once a niche sector, now hundreds of homes, farms, schools, offices, leisure centre and hotels across the region are heated with wood pellets.